In the garden that is — it was a long weekend out there — but so much fun. This year, I added containers with flowers to my garden. I bought some pretty Martha Washington geraniums that I didn’t have time to plant right away so I just stuck them out there until I could get around to doing the pots in the front of the house. But they were so pretty, and I’ve been spending so much time out there lately, that I decided to do the pots in the veggie garden itself. See — pretty!

I also took the wall-o-waters off the tomatoes this weekend. Here’s the before photo: and here’s what they look like now: I saw this trellis method when I was in the south of France a couple of years ago. The tomatoes are trained up a string. I like this because it’s pretty, and because it’s easier to get in and see what’s going on with the tomatoes than when they’re in a cage. Depending on how much support they need, I may put more horizontal supports on these trellises as needed. I also mulched them in a deep bed of straw. I seem to be obsessed by straw mulch this year — I like the way it looks, and if I can cut down on the watering, that will be a good thing. The other thing I did is to write the name of the tomato and pepper varieties right on the raised bed. By the time things get ripe, the tongue depressors I use for plant markers have generally fallen apart. So this way, I figure I’ll have a pretty good record, and it’ll fade before next year.